Iron & Wine: ‘Caught in the Briars’ and ‘The Waves of Galveston’ (Live)

February 7, 2013

Given last week’s promising taste of the new Iron & Wine album, Ghost on Ghost, and the record’s talented cast of guest jazz musicians, Sam Beam’s latest effort is shaping up to be a highlight of his 5LP run so far (2005’s Woman King EP remains a personal favorite, even among the full-lengths). If you haven’t heard “Lovers’ Revolution,” that should be the first stop before delving deeper into new material. But for those of us eager to hear more, Beam stopped by Austin radio station KUT early last month to debut a pair of songs: “Caught in the Briars,” the opening track on the LP, and “The Waves of Galveston,” an excellent non-album cut. While Beam seems to be exploring a more genre-melding direction in the studio this round, these two recall the folk side of his earlier work a bit more — a fine way to bide our time until the April 16th release date. KUT have the latter recording here. Watch/hear Beam perform backed by mandolin below: